Engineering news
French energy firm EDF has said that the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK for more than 20 years will be delayed.
The £24.5 billion Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset is planned to be a two reactor plant with a 3,200MW capacity, around 7% of the UK's electricity. But the EDF chief executive has now admitted that the new Hinkley Point nuclear power station has been delayed and will not start generating power in 2023 as planned.
A combination of the EPR's technical issues and protracted talks over funding are being blamed for Hinkley Point's delays.
In July, EDF announced that Hinkley Point C would provide 25,000 jobs on-site during its construction, including 1,000 apprenticeships. The plant was given the go-ahead after the UK government reduced subsidies for the plant by more than £1 billion.
Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF Energy, said: “Hinkley Point C will be at the forefront of the revitalisation of the UK’s industrial and skills base. The project will boost industrial stamina in the UK and kick-start the new nuclear programme. Experience gained at Hinkley Point will help firms be successful in nuclear projects around the world.”
The EPR reactors to be used in the plant are the next generation (III+) of pressurised water reactors, the type used by EDF in France and at Sizewell B in the UK. The first EPRs are being built at Flamanville in France and Olkiluoto in Finland.
Both projects have been plagued with problems. The company announced yesterday in Paris that weak spots discovered in the EPR's reactor vessel and safety valves at Flamanville will delay the start up of the reactor by another year to 2018. Olkiluoto will be at least five years late if it is commissioned as planned in 2018. Both projects are also heavily over budget.
The reactors have enhanced safety features with quadruple safety systems, and are said to be more efficient and produce less long-lived radioactive waste compared with existing water reactors. They also use less uranium than current generation reactors. Despite this, the reactors have faced some controversy with France's nuclear safety watchdog finding 'multiple' malfunctioning valves in the Flamanville EPR that could cause its meltdown.
Since the announcement of the EU funding for the construction of the plant, Greenpeace activists have voiced their opposition, accusing the European Commission making procedural errors when it approved the nuclear plant.
Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace said: “It is hard to fathom why EDF and the government are so hell bent on new nuclear to keep the lights on and emissions down. The consortium haven't got the money to pay for Hinkley, they may not be able to manufacture it safely, it costs a fortune, no contracts have been signed, and the deal might not even be legal.
"To even the most optimistic of nuclear proponents, a good deal must seem far fetched. The UK is on course to miss our renewable targets, and the government needs to forget about the endless broken promises of the nuclear industry and instead focus on backing the renewable energy sector in the UK.”
Greenpeace EU legal adviser Andrea Carta said: “Only a year ago the Commission said that Hinkley was in principle incompatible under EU state aid rules. Now, under pressure from the UK Government and French nuclear operator EDF, the Commission is preparing to perform a U-turn.
“European Commissioners should oppose the plan and resist rushing through a controversial and far-reaching decision in the dying weeks of this Commission.”